DCB Eating Me Out of House & Home

[mamamanda]

My 3 yo dcb has suddenly started eating A LOT! We're talking breakfast time he will eat 2-3 scrambled eggs, 2 pieces of toast, half a banana, drink his milk & then get upset when I tell him no more eggs. Then we make it to lunch & again its 3-4 servings of every food & he's still sitting at the table 10 minutes after everyone is done & I've cleaned up and he's asking for more food. I tell him its nap time & he can eat at snack time. He complains that he's still hungry the whole time I carry him from the table to nap b/c he wont move on his own. At snack time its the same deal. He's eating healthy food but its costing me a lot as selfish as that sounds & I'm concerned about him eating that much. This is very new behavior, just the last few weeks. Growth spurt maybe? Should I mention it to mom? He's not overweight, just an average sized little guy.

[laundrymom]

My 3 yo dcb has suddenly started eating A LOT! We're talking breakfast time he will eat 2-3 scrambled eggs, 2 pieces of toast, half a banana, drink his milk & then get upset when I tell him no more eggs. Then we make it to lunch & again its 3-4 servings of every food & he's still sitting at the table 10 minutes after everyone is done & I've cleaned up and he's asking for more food. I tell him its nap time & he can eat at snack time. He complains that he's still hungry the whole time I carry him from the table to nap b/c he wont move on his own. At snack time its the same deal. He's eating healthy food but its costing me a lot as selfish as that sounds & I'm concerned about him eating that much. This is very new behavior, just the last few weeks. Growth spurt maybe? Should I mention it to mom? He's not overweight, just an average sized little guy.

I would offer veggies more when he is hungry. The fiber may fill him better. Or oatmeal. That sticks to your ribs. I would offer that as a filler. Too many eggs is not good. Especially if he's doing same thing at home for mom. I'd mention it to her. Just in case something is going on at home. Maybe not enough food?

[Blackcat31]

My 3 yo dcb has suddenly started eating A LOT! We're talking breakfast time he will eat 2-3 scrambled eggs, 2 pieces of toast, half a banana, drink his milk & then get upset when I tell him no more eggs. Then we make it to lunch & again its 3-4 servings of every food & he's still sitting at the table 10 minutes after everyone is done & I've cleaned up and he's asking for more food. I tell him its nap time & he can eat at snack time. He complains that he's still hungry the whole time I carry him from the table to nap b/c he wont move on his own. At snack time its the same deal. He's eating healthy food but its costing me a lot as selfish as that sounds & I'm concerned about him eating that much. This is very new behavior, just the last few weeks. Growth spurt maybe? Should I mention it to mom? He's not overweight, just an average sized little guy.

I serve the meal serving requirements and offer no more than seconds IF available and ONLY if they've eaten everything else.

I don't allow thirds and I don't purposely make seconds. They are just available if I happen to have them.

I try to make sure to always have buttered bread on hand too for those kids that really do burn off the excess calories as some kids do eat more than others naturally.

In your shoes, I would perhaps suggest to mo that she feed her child before drop off and then he won't be as hungry when he eats breakfast with you. I would even suggest that mom supply some extra calories such as wheat crackers etc. As for serving seconds and thirds and fourths, that's on you. If you are on the food program it's not required so if you can't afford to feed him until he wants to stop, don't.

[Play Care]

I feel your pain!
I have two boys who would eat all day long if I let them.
I do as Black Cat with my "big" eaters but I'll admit it's hard hearing kids whine about how hungry they are all.the.time.
I had gotten rid of AM snack because of how close breakfast is to lunch, but I was seriously considering bringing it back because of them.

[Thriftylady]

I had a SA kid like that last school year. I started offering carrot sticks and celery sticks when he wanted more but it turned out in his case he only wanted more of the stuff he really liked.

[NillaWafers]

My kids do not get seconds unless they eat all their food (veggies included). This pretty much prevents me from handing out seconds even if they are there. None of my kids will eat all their veggies.

[Unregistered]

Is he drinking plenty of water? I've always heard that it's easy for little ones to mistake hunger for thirst and vice versa. Maybe he's just going through a growth spurt.

[finsup]

Sounds like my son! That kid eats like a teenager (he's 4) and doesn't gain a thing. I offer regular meals/snacks and seconds when their plate is cleared. Then will offer one thing as an "extra" after that. Like if I have a ton of apples, that will be his only choice until the next meal time. Helps me figure out when he's really hungry. If it were me I'd mention it just because it's something out of the ordinary for him. Is he getting enough at home do you think? Most likely it's just a growth spurt though!

[jenboo]

Is he drinking plenty of water? I've always heard that it's easy for little ones to mistake hunger for thirst and vice versa. Maybe he's just going through a growth spurt.

This is what I was going to say. The body often mistakes thirst for hunger. It's he dirking lots of water?
I would have him drink a cup of water between servings to help fill him up.

[permanentvacation]

You should serve a proper portion and that's it. You can Google 'USDA food program serving sizes'. Click on 'children' in the main text and it will tell you how much of each type of food they should get.

[Blackcat31]

My kids do not get seconds unless they eat all their food (veggies included). This pretty much prevents me from handing out seconds even if they are there. None of my kids will eat all their veggies.

Really?

I must have some strange kids.... :: We go through at least 2 bell peppers (they prefer the red, orange or yellow but still like the green), probably a quart or more of cherry tomatoes, 4 cucumbers and a pound of baby carrots EVERY.DAY.

That is in addition to the regular servings of vegetables we have. For example today we ate all of the above veggies...picked fresh from the garden the daycare kids planted and maintained themselves as well as had mixed vegetables and a spinach salad with our grilled chicken breast.

I am grateful for the kiddos I have in care every time I read a post about picky eaters or kids that wont touch veggies. I have a hard time keeping up with the veggie demand here.

[mamamanda]

He actually drinks about 18oz of water in between meals as well. He has a 6 oz water bottle he asks me to fill about 3 times each day so I don't think its thirst.

[LysesKids]

Really?

I must have some strange kids.... :: We go through at least 2 bell peppers (they prefer the red, orange or yellow but still like the green), probably a quart or more of cherry tomatoes, 4 cucumbers and a pound of baby carrots EVERY.DAY.

That is in addition to the regular servings of vegetables we have. For example today we ate all of the above veggies...picked fresh from the garden the daycare kids planted and maintained themselves as well as had mixed vegetables and a spinach salad with our grilled chicken breast.

I am grateful for the kiddos I have in care every time I read a post about picky eaters or kids that wont touch veggies. I have a hard time keeping up with the veggie demand here.

I must have some strange babies too... favorites here are asparagus, black beans & mushrooms . My littles eat 75% veggie meals; of course they eat hard boiled eggs with Japanese rice seasoning, Miso soup, and curried lentils with rice too (mushrooms & tomato added to mix)

[NillaWafers]

Really?

I must have some strange kids.... :: We go through at least 2 bell peppers (they prefer the red, orange or yellow but still like the green), probably a quart or more of cherry tomatoes, 4 cucumbers and a pound of baby carrots EVERY.DAY.

That is in addition to the regular servings of vegetables we have. For example today we ate all of the above veggies...picked fresh from the garden the daycare kids planted and maintained themselves as well as had mixed vegetables and a spinach salad with our grilled chicken breast.

I am grateful for the kiddos I have in care every time I read a post about picky eaters or kids that wont touch veggies. I have a hard time keeping up with the veggie demand here.

I have some pretty picky kids. One doesn't like peanut butter. I side eye him every time haha. My eldest will eat most of whats on his plate though, but he's the only one.

[Josiegirl]

My kids do not get seconds unless they eat all their food (veggies included). This pretty much prevents me from handing out seconds even if they are there. None of my kids will eat all their veggies.

I have 2 kids that hardly eat any veggies OR fruit. One of them only eats 4-5 fruits and no veggies whatsoever. The other one does like peas and corn(I never serve corn unless it's in a casserole type dish).
We had cantaloupe as part of our snack today, really delicious and juicy. Those 2 dcks wouldn't even try it.
I think back to when my own kids were little and they must've been picky too. I brought youngest dd to the dr. once and he asked how her appetite was. I said she'll eat ketchup, chocolate or anything she finds on the floor.

OP, what dcb is doing could be due to a growth spurt, as was mentioned. I know when my now 7 yo dcg was diagnosed with diabetes, she drank lots, peed lots, and also ate a lot. She was 4 at the time. This wouldn't be a possibility would it?